Floodwaters heavily damaged the Little Tarkio Creek Bridge/MoDOT photo
The route to Rulo
has reopened, once again.
Missouri
Department of Transportation officials report U.S. Route 159 from Route 111 at
Big Lake across the Missouri River to Rulo, Nebraska has reopened after
floodwaters had closed it a second time.
Work to replace
the Little Tarkio Creek Bridge at Fortescue on U.S. Route 159 will likely not
be completed until spring.
Now, both vital
links between northwest Missouri and southeast Nebraska have reopened after
being closed for much of the year due to the widespread and recurring flooding.
Highway 136 to the north of U.S. Route 159 reopened about two weeks ago,
reopening the route to Brownville, Nebraska cut off since March 15th.
MoDOT completed a
work-around of the heavily flood damaged Little Tarkio Creek Bridge in
September only to see floodwaters rise again, overflow the Big Lake area, and again
shut down the route being reopened for only 16 days.
MoDOT Thursday reopened
Route 111, Lake Shore Drive, along Big Lake between U.S. Route 159 and Route
118. March floods closed both routes. Contractor Phillips Hardy worked with
MoDOT to complete extensive repairs to both routes in late April.
When flooding receded
earlier this week, crews returned to U.S. Route 159 to complete shoulder and
roadway repairs. Crews removed debris and made small repairs to Route 111 when
floodwaters receded two days ago.
For more
information on flood recovery, click here for MoDOT’s special flood webpage.